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THE MADIS0N1AN PAMPHLET. 



TO MV FRIENDS THROUGHOUT THE 
UNION. 

The reasons which influenced me in accept 
ing the nomination for the Presidency, made 
by a Convention of my friends in May last, at 
Baltimore, have lost much of their original force- 
I had been not only most violently assailed by 
the Ultraists of both parties, but had been 
threatened with impeachment for having nego- 
tiated a Treaty proposing the annexation of 
Texas to the Union, as a portion of its terri- 
tory, and for having adopted precautionary mea- 
sures, clearly falling within the range of Execu- 
tive discretion, to ward off any blow which 
might have been seriously aimed at the peace 
and safety of the country in the event of the 
ratification of the Treaty by the Senate. The 
opinion of a person, once ranked amongst the 
distinguished jurists of the country, found its 
way into the newspapers, apparently as the 
precursor of such proceeding. A report had 
also been made, at a previous session of Con- 
gress, by a committee of the House <jf Repre- 
sentatives, which proceeded from the pen of a 
man who filled no limited space in the eye of 
the world, in which — because of the exercise of 
the Veto power in arrest of the unconstitutional 
and pernicious measures of a United States 
Bank, and a donation to the States of so much 
of the public revenue as was derived from the 
public lands, at a moment of great embarrass- 
ment to the Treasury, and when loans were ne- 
cessary to sustain the Government — I was 
charged with the commission of grave offences 
in the above particulars, and with deseiving all 

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the pains and disgrace flowing from the high 
power of impeachment, a measure, as it was in- 
timated, only not resorted toby the House be- 
cause of a doubt entertained whether the pro- 
ceeding would be sustained by public sentiment. 
I had, it is true, protested against that report as 
originating in wrong, and dictated by party 
rancor and malevolence ; but my Protest was 
refused a place on the journals of the House, 
and thus, in future times, my name might have 
been tarnished by the fact of a solemn decla- 
ration, highly implicating my character, remain- 
ing uncontradicted and unreversed on the public 
journals. The party majority which had 
sanctioned a proceeding so unjust had, 
it is true, been swept out pf existence by 
the elections which shortly afterwards fol- 
lowed ; but, at the lime of my accept- 
ance of the nomination, although a large and 
overwhelming majority of the opposite party 
had been brought into power by the People, as 
if for the express purpose of sustaining me in 
what I had done, yet that very party had made 
no public movement indicative of a friendly 
feeling, and a portion of its members, who 
seemed to control the rest, exhibited the bitter- 
est hostility, and the most unrelenting spirit of 
opposition. / Under these circumstances, there 
was but one course left to me consistent with 
honor, which was, to maintain my position un- 
moved by threats, and unintimidated by denun- 
ciations. Those of my countrymen, who had 
come to my support, had done so in a self-sacri- 
ficing spirit, without the indulgence of any other 
expectation than that my character should be 



vindicated, and that the policy of my Adminis- 
tration should be sustained; and 1 felt that it 
would better become me to abide the most signal 
defeat than to incur the disgrace of deprecating 
the action of a party, the chief object of whose 
leaders seemed to be to fasten upon me disgrace. 
1 had also an indistinct hope, that the great ques- 
tion of the annexation of Texas might, in some 
degree, be controlled by the position I occupied. 
These motives induced my acceptance of the 
nomination made by my friends. Before the close 
of the session of Congress, however, develop- 



country, my withdrawal from the Presidential 
canvass. 

I cannot omit to accompany this public annun- 
iaction with a few remarks, addressed to the 
Republican portion of what was called the 
Whig party of 1840. I make no appeal to that 
other portion, which was formerly known during 
the early period of our political history, as Fede- 
ralists, at a later day as National Republicans, 
and now pass under the general appellation of 
Whigs- Such an appeal would be wholly out 
of place, since their political principles are en- 



ments were so clearly and distinctly made as to tirely at war with those I have advocated through 



the threatened impeachment, that no trace of 
such a, measure was left. Mr. J. Q,. Adams's re- 
port, implicating my motives and conduct in my 
Vetoes of the Bank and other bills, was depriv- 
ed of all of its force and furtive effect, by a Re- 
port made by a committee, of which Mr. Ellis, 
of New York, was Chairman, accompanied by 
resolutions, which passed the House of Repre- 
sentatives some few days before the close of the 
session by a large and commanding majority, 
not only rescuing my motives from all imputa- 
tion, but justifying and upholding my policy.— 
The voice of the People in the elections of 1842 
was thus directly responded toby that of their 
Representatives, and but little remained for me 
personally , either to expect or desire. Since the 
adjournment of Congress, the language ol many 
of the leading presses of the country, and reso- 
lutions adopted by large assemblages of the Peo- 
ple in their primary meetings, have still fur- 
ther endorsed the proceedings of the House 
in approbation of the acts of the Administra- 
tion. 1 could not, however, look exclusive- 
ly to my own wishes, which would have 
led me immediately to leiite from a con- 
test which seemed no longer to be possessed of 
an object worthy of much further attention. — 
But I was not at liberty to do so without first 
consulting with such of my most prominent and 
steadfast friends as I could most readily confer 
with; men who had shared with me in much 
of the abuse which I had encountered, and 
would partially have participated in all the ob- 
loquy, if any, which might, in the future, attach 
to me. So far as I have been able to consuli 
them, they have yielded their assent to the 
course which my own judgment suggests as 
proper; and I now announce to them and the 



life. I mean no imputation on their motives or 
their patriotism. I doubt not that the old Fede- 
ral party, in the lead of which stood the elder 
Adams, were as deeply and sincerely convinced 
of the necessity of the Alien and Sedition laws, 
as the present is of that of a Bank of the Uni- 
ted States, with other measures equally latitu- 
dinous, along with the abolition of the Veto 
power, whereby to convert the Government in- 
to a mere majority machine — to make it the 
Government of a single nation, instead of what 
ft is, a political campact between free, sove- 
reign and independent States, by which so much 
power, and no more, has been granted to a com- 
mon Agent of all the States, as they esteemed 
to be necessary for the promotion of their mu- 
tual happiness. No ; to them I have nothing 
to say. If I have received their support at any 
time, it has been, not from attachment to 
me or my political principles, but from some 
supposed influence which I might bring to bear, 
as a secondary ageni, m advancing their pur- 
poses. All the obligations which 1 have re- 
ceived for such reasons, have been more than 
counterbalanced by the untiring opposition 
which I have encountered at their hands since 
I attained my present station, and the constant 
and unmitigated abuse which their leaders 
have poured out in a torrent upon my head ; 
designed, as I verily believe in the first 
instance, to drive me from the Government; 
and in the last to overwhelm me with obloquy 
and reproach. But I have a right to address 
myself to those, who, like myself, co-opera- 
led with them in the contest of 1840— who 
were, and always had bet n, the advocates of 
the principles of the old*"Republican party — 
whose strenuous efforts have always been di- 



rected to preserving the compact of Union, un-j almost every sea. The paralysis which had 
broken and inviolate— who have sustained at all fallen on public credit, to an extent so great 
times the principles of the Republican party of that the poor sum of $5,000,000 of Government 
1798-9— who have participated, from time to stock was offered to European and American 



time, in all Republican tiiumphs — whose fathers 
were victorious over the elder Adams in the 
election of Mr. Jefferson, as they themselves 
were over the younger in the election of Gene- 
ral Jackson. To this portion of the Whig par- 
ty of 1840, I feel that I have a full right to ad- 
dress myself; and I now seriously put it to them 
to say, whether any expectation of good to the 
country which they had formed in the election 
of General Harrison and myself to the Presi- 
dency and Vice Presidency has been disap- 
pointed ? Many of us had been thrown into 
opposition to General Jackson during his last 
term, having voted for him upon his first and 
second eLection, because of certain doctrines 
put forth in his Proclamation, and because of 
certain measures which followed that celebra 
ted State paper. Our opposition proceeded from 
no spirit of faction, but from what we esteemed 
it to be, a sacred regard to the high and essen- 
tial principles of the Republican party— and 
regarding his successor as in a great degree 
identified with what we esteemed as errors 
in General Jackson's Administration, our op- 
position was continued to kim. The state 
and condition of the country also seemed to 
require change in the general Administration. 
Have you been disappointed in the reform 
which you promised yourselves by going into 
that contest? You demanded a rigid economy 
to be observed in the public expenditures. 
Have you iu this been disappointed ? You 
required accountability on the part of all public 
agents. Has it not been fulfilled ? Let the fact 
that a defaulter has become almost unknown for 
the last three years answer the question. You 
asked that a course of policy should be adopted 
which should purify and reform the currency. 
Was the currency of the country ever in a 
better condition ? Let the rate of the Ex- 
changes between all parts of the country an- 
swer the inquiry. Has the day ever been, 
when the currency was sounder or the rates of 
Exchange lower? You sought once more to 
put t lie mechanical arts in active operation, and 



capitalists without our being able to find for it a 
purchaser, has passed away, and a well supplied 
Exchequer gives evidence not only of the ex- 
pansion of trade, but of the stable basis on 
which rests the public credit. The very stock 
for which no bidders could dt one lime be found, 
now readily commands in the market an ad- 
vance of fifteen or twenty dollars in the hun- 
dred. In the mean time I submit it to you to 
say, whether the principles of the Republican 
party have not been closely observed in all that 
has been done. Did those principles require 
that we should recommence a new cycle of 
twenty years, the predecessor of which a Bank 
of the United States had fulfilled in 1836?— 
Beginning by increasing the derangements of 
business for years, attended in its mid career 
with comparative prosperity, then resorting to 
efforts by all its large means to force a recharter, 
and ending its existence amid the curses and 
denunciations of the many it had ruined. Most 
of you had, like myself, through all time, pro- 
nounced the Bank to be unconstitutional. Had 
your opinions on this subjec undergone a 
change in 1840, and did you contemplate that 
General Harrison and myself— who during the 
whole contest avowed our opinions to be 
unchanged in that respect, in numerous addres- 
ses to the public, — would be deserving of de- 
nunciation if either of us should refuse lu per- 
jure ourselves by sanctioning a Bank charter, 
which, believing it to be unconstitutional, our 
solemn oath of office required us \orote against 
or veto? Tell me, moreover, brother Republi- 
cans of 1840, had you then brought your -elves 
to the conclusion that, even admit ling a possi- 
ble abuse of the Veto power, it was proper to 
erase from the Constitution that great barrier and 
check to unconstitutional and highly inexpedient 
legislation, thereby making the will of Congress 
supreme and installing the majority of that body 
in the full possession of all the powers of Go- 
vernment? Or did you, or do you now still 
cling to the opinion in which the qualified Veto 
originated, that a Government without checks 



to relieve commerce from the blight which had I and balances is the worst form of Oligarchy — 
fallen upon it. The first has revived, and the/ and thai io » many guards, in order to secure 
Last has unfurled its sails, which now whiter, publ.c liberty, cannot be thrown over its differ- 



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eat departments? If, indeed, you are advocates ] W ay to a more extended commerce with 



of a change so vital as that proposed, then may 
not only the Garrisons and Tappans of our own 
country rejoice, but a shout should ascend from 
the Abolition Convention "of the whole world," 
at the fact that our Federal system had given 
way before the power of a consolidated govern- 
ment, whose will, uttered forth by sectional ma- 
jorities, was absolute, admitting of no check or 
resistance from any quarter whatever. If, in- 
deed, these be your opinions, then have I most 
grievously disappointed the hopes in which you 



27,000,000 of people, in our cotton, tobacco, 
rice and lard, at duties on tobacco, rice and 
lard greatly reduced, and with a stipulation for 
the free admission of cotton ; while we had 
agreed to receive at somewhat reduced duties 
articles from those States which entered into 
the most limited competition, if at all, with a 
few similar articles of American product. The 
Treaty was particularly interesting from the 
fact, that for the first time, after repeated strug- 
gles on the part of my predecessors, to accom- 



indulged in connection with my election and my plish a reduction of duty on tobacco, the Gov- 
Adminisiration. I must, nevertheless, most so- 1 ernmei.t had succeeded in doing so. It was ne- 



lemnly aver that had 1 been aware that such 
would have been expected and required of me — 
if I could have believed that you, whose candi- 
date I was peculiarly considered, and to concili- 
ate whom I was nominated for the Vice Presi- 
dency, would have required of me in the con- 
tingency which unhappily occurred, that I should 
commence my Administration with an act of 
perjury, and sanctioned measures abhorrent to 
every principle of my past life and at war with 
the prosperity of the country and the continu- 
ance of liberty, I would not have suffered my 
name, humble as it was, to have been breathed 
in the canvass. No, I claim the proud privilege 
of an American citizen to think for myself on 
all subjects, and to act in pursuance of my own 



gotiated under resolutions originating with the 
tobacco States, and with the presumed sanction 
of Congress, who had raised, as it is believed, 
the mission to Vienna, from a second to a first rate 
mission, with direet reference to the tobacco 
interest, and had also appropriated a sum of mo- 
ney, some years ago, to enable the Executive to 
employ an agent in Germany to acquire infor- 
mation as to the tobacco trade, the services of 
which agent had only ceased a short time prior 
to thi negotiation of the Treaty. My hope 
still however is, that the benefits of the Treaty 
and the Treaty itself may not be lost to the 
country. I think it proper loadd that there was 
no design to deprive the House of Representa- 
tions of any rightful and constitutional action 



convictions— and it would require a total change i ver the subject, which it might properly exer- 



of my nature in order to convert me into a mere 
instrument of party, or of party dictation. 



cise. It was, on the contrary, my intention to 
have submitted the Treaty', and all papers cal- 



I would appeal not only to yourselves but to ! culated to elucidate it, to the House of Rep- 



all my countrymen to say, whether in the mat- 
ters appertaining to our foreign affairs, they an- 
ticipated more success in the adjustment of dif- 
ficulties and in the formation of highly important 
Treaties than it has been my province to cause to 
be negoiated. Long standing difficulties have 
been adjusted-difficulties which threatened most 
seriously the peace of the country. Nor has any 
opportunity been lost for enlarging the commerce 
of the country, and giving new markets to our 
agricultural and manufactured products. If the 
country has not reaped full fruition of benefit 
from all theTreaties thus negotiated, it surely has 
not been the fault, of tne Administration. Tin 
loss of two of those Treaties through the ac- 
tion of the Senate, cannot but be deplored by 
me as great pu ilic calamities. I5y the Treat, 
ihe German States, we had opened t e 



resentatives, if it had been ratified by the Sen- 
ate, for such action as they might have 
deemed it proper to adopt — a course pursued 
in all cases in which the action of the 
House is required to vote supplies of money, or 
fulfil any other object falling within the scope of 
their power. 

In negotiating the Treaty for the annexation 
of Texas, which was rejected by the Senate, 
motives have been ascribed to the Administra- 
tion which had no place in its mind or heart. — 
One gentleman, occupying a prominent place 
in the Democratic party, whether for good or 
evil it does not become me to say, has assigned 
ii an address recently delivered in Missouri, 
two prominent motives for its negotiation : 1st, 
'ersonal ambition, and, 2dly, a purpose to dis- 
>\r the Union. Mr. Clay also, ma recent 



letter written to the editor of a newspaper in 
Alabama, has called the Treaty infamous, and 
ascribed to it, in its origin, 'sinister objects. I 
repel both their assaults upon the Treaty and its 
negotiators. What object of mere personal am- 
bition in any way connected with office could 
have influenced the Administration in negotia- 
ting the Treaty ? The public archives fur- 
nished the strongest reasons to believe 
that the Treaty would have met the un- 
qualified approval of both Mr. Clay and Mr. 
Van Buren. While the one was Secretary of 
Stat3 to Mr. Adams, and the other to General 
Jackson, each in his turn attempted to obtain 
the annexation of Texas. Mr. Clay's negotia- 
tion was carried on with Mexico in the third 
year of her Revolutionary struggle, while Spain 
regarded her as a revolted Province, and her 
armies were in possession of many of the 
strongholds of the country. What reason, 
then, could I have had for supposing for an in- 
stant that a Treaty with Texas, after eight years 
of actual independence, with no Mexican sol- 
dier within her territory, and subject only to 
occasional border interruptions, could or would 
have met with opposition from him or his 
friends'? and meeting with no such opposition 
on the part either of Mr. Van Buren or Mr. 
Clay, and their friends, it would puzzle a sound- 
er casuist than I profess to be, to conceive in 
what possible way it could have interrupted 
the relations of those two gentlemen, who stood 
at the moment at the head of their respective 
parties, and were looked upon by all as compet- 
itors for the Presidency. It is well known 
that, when the negotiation for the ac- 
quisition of Texas was commenced, and 
up to a period succeeding the signing 
of the Treaty, it was my confident con- 
viction, expressed to many, that it would, 
from the circumstances I have stated, 
receive the support both of Mr. Clay and Mr 
Van Buren, so that neither would be affected 
by its negotiation. 

If it had been charged that the Administra- 
tion was prompted by the ambition of securing 
the greatest boon to the country, and the whole 
country, in the acquisition of a territory so im- 
portant in itself and so inseparably connected 
with the interests of every Stale in the Union, 
and every interest of the Union, I would have 
plead guilty, without a moment of hesitation. 



I confess I felt ambitious to add another bright 
star to the American constellation. It would 
have been a source of pride to me, if that mea- 
sure had been carried, to have witnessed from 
the retirement that awaits me, the annual ex- 
pansion of our coastwise and foreign trade, and 
the increased prosperity of our agriculture and 
manufactures, through the rapid growth of 
Texas, which would have followed the ratifica- 
tion of the Treaty. Yes, I freely confess that 
this would have furnished me an unfailing 
source of gratification to the end of my life. I 
should have seen also the Union of the States 
becoming stronger and stronger through their 
reciprocal affection— local jealousies suppressed, 
and fanatical schemes and schemers alike pros- 
trate. I should have witnessed the blessed re- 
sults of our Federative system as it embraced the 
finest country in the world, and brought under its 
influence a people devoted like ourselves to the 
maintenance and preservation of free govern- 
ment. This was the kind ol ambition which 
prompted the negotiation of the Treaty. Its 
ratification was the sole honor which I coveted, 
and ail that I now desire. What sinister mo- 
tives could have originated the negotiation at 
this time, that did not exist in 1827? What 
was there now to have rendered a Treaty infa- 
mous which did not exist then ? If it be 
said that we had a Treaty of Limits with Mexi- 
co, I ask if, in 1827, we had not also a Treaty o 
Limits with Spain ? We had recognised the 
independence of Mexico, and, therefore, vir- 
tually claimed that we had a perfect right to 
treat with her for the annexation of Texas, and 
in fact, if we had so pleased, for Mexico entire, 
Eight years ago w r e recognised Texas as inde- 
pendent, and surely our right to negotiate with 
her, implied no worse faith than in 1827 to ne- 
gotiate with Mexico for her. The idea that 
because of the existence of a Treaty of Limits 
with anv' nation, we must forever thereafter 
deny to all parts of the territory of such nation 
the right of revolution or change, can only ex- 
cite, with an American citizen, a smile. Was 
it deemed necessary, in 1827, to consult the 
States, to consult the Senate, or to consult the 
House of Representatives, or the People ? — 
Was it considered necessary to obtain the as- 
sent of every State, as would seem now to be 
proposed, before forming a Treaty of Annexa- 
tion ? If the assent of every State is necessa- 



ry, then may we bid adieu to the prospect of 
annexation now or hereafter. The Constitu- 
tion devolves the treaty-making power on two- 
Ihirds of the States, through their Senators, 
and it is altogether a new doctrine that a Treaty 
should not be negotiated without the assent of 
all. Danger to the Union through the exercise 
of the power of a constitutional majority in the 
making of a Treaty, is a doctrine for the 
first time advanced, and having no foun- 
dation in point of fact. I regard the pre- 
servation of the Union as the first great Ame- 
rican interest. I equally disapprove of all threats 
of its dissolution, whether they proceed from the 
North or the South. The glory of my country, 
its safety and its prosperity alike depend on 
Union, and he who would contemplate its de- 
struction, even for a moment, and form plans to 
accomplish it, deserves the deepest anathemas of 
the human race. I believed, and still believe, 
that the annexation of Texas would add to its 
strength, and serve to perpetuate it for ages yet 
to come; and my best efforts, while I remain in 
office, will be directed to securing its acquisition, 
either now or at a future day. Whether any ef- 
forts will avail to secure this object, since the 
rejection of the Treaty, remains still to be seen. 
I abandon all hope upon the subject, if it shall be 
esteemed necessary to obtain for it the approval 
of every State. The case rarely occurs that 
any Treaty receives the unanimous approval of 
the Senate. 

I have been called upon, in justice to myself, 
to make these remarks in withdrawing from the 
position in which my friends had placed me. 1 
might present other inquiries growing out of 
the course of the Administration, both in regard 
to our domestic and foreign relations, as to 
which principles have been maintained, which 
may arrest the attention of future and even re- 
mote Administrations— but let what I have said 
suffice. All that I ask of my countrymen is 
a candid review of my acts, and an impartial 
comparison of the condition of the country now 
with what it was three years ago. I appeal 
from the vituperation of the present day to the 
pen of impartial history, in the full confidence 
that neither my motives nor my acts will bear 
the interpretation which has, for sinister pur- 
poses, been placed upon them. 

JOHN TYLER. 

Washington, Aug. 2ft, 1844. 



MESSRS. WEBSTER AND CLAY. 
We take the following from the New York Cou- 
rier and Enquirer, of August 13th : 

"The editor of the Madisonian intimated a few 
days since, that he would do something dreadful if 
Mr. Webster should venture to advocate the election 
of Henry Clay on the ground of his friendship to the 
tariff, and we were (of course!) exceedingly solici- 
tous to asceitain what sert of a thunderbolt was to 
fall upon the head of Mr. Webster, if he should dare 
to say any thing in favor of the Whig candidate for 
the Presidency. But it seems we mistook the mean- 
ing of the Madisonian man entiiely. He was not 
going to do any thing with Mr. Webster; it is Mr. 
Clay that he is giing to blow into the seven stars if 
Mr. Webster dares t > open his mouth for him. The 
Mad sonlan is going to prove that Mr. Clay has at 
onetime "proposed to abandon all protection on arti- 
cles manufactured in the United States." 

Suppose we prove it note, and by Mr. Webster. 

About the time, indeed at the time, (1842) when a 
bitter controversy was going on between the Hon. 
Henry Clay and the Hon. Henry A. Wise, in rela- 
tion to the unfortunate Cilley duel, Mr. Wise being 
prevented from expressing his views on the Tariff, by 
some rule of the House, ennounced bis purpose to 
imbody them in an Address to hi3 constituents, which 
would be publishtd in the newspapers. 

Immediately after the announcement was made, 
Mr. Websttr, being then Secretary of State under 
Mr. Tyler, and taking a most active part in the vin- 
dication of the Administration, and in opposition to 
the assaults of Mr. Clay and his friends on it, sent to 
the Madisunian office, where it was known the Ad- 
dress of Mr. Wiee would be published, the following 
note, desiring it to be inserted in the Address, as a 
separate and distinct paragraph, which was accord- 
ingly done: 

"I am informed and authorized, by one 
who saw the manuscript draught of the 
act of 1S33 before it was offered, to state 
that " when Mr. Clay drew the act of 
1833, and showed it to his friends in his 
own handwriting-, after the clause which 
provides that only such duties shall be laid 
as are necessary for an economical admin- 
istration of the Government, after the 30th 
of June, 1S42, the following words, or 
other words precisely equivalent, were add- 
ed, to wit: ' And such duties shall belaid 
without reference to the protection of any 
domestic articles whatever.' It may fair- 
ly, therefore, be claimed that the great au- 
thor of what is called the American Sys- 
tem himself has, in (he most direct manner, 
acceded to this principle at least, that du- 
ties must be laid primarily for revenue, and 



■ 



not for protection alone. This is the lead- 
ing principle to which the faith of the na- 
tion has been solemnly pledged, and one 
from which it will never be safe for the 
great protected interests themselves to de- 
part." 

On the marg-in of Mr. Webster's note there was a 
P. S. in pencil mark, which ran as follows : " The 
words quoted beginning at " And," and ending at 
" whatever," are a literal copy from the original 
draft in Mr. Clay's handwriting. D. W." 

It may be remembered that the Hon. C. J. Inger- 
soll stated last spring, in the House, that he had 
heard that Mr. Clay had once agreed to yield the 
principle of protection — and that Mr. Clay accosted 
him, when in Washington last May, on the subject, 
and pronounced the statement a " falsehood," and 
the one who had communicated to him the informa- 
tion a " calumniator." 

Will he pronounce Mr. Webster a "calumniator?" 

We have more than once demonstrated that some 
fifty of Mr. Clay's nearest and dearest friends oppos- 
ed, directly and indirectly, the passage of the exist- 
ing tariff act ; and have asserted, on tenable grounds, 
that the Clay party in Congress were opposed to its 
passage. Mr. Webster was undoubtedly in favor of 
the aet, and while striving to array the manufactu- 
turers against Mr. Clay, lost no opportunity to recon- 
cile them to Mr. Tyler. Some of the seeds he sow- 
ed have taken root. 

Was it not too much for patient endurance, foi 
Mr. Webster, after "providing for his family" and 
his friends, by his labors in behalf of the Administia- 
tion, to turn round and denounce it, and to become 
the advocate of Mr. Clay, because of his advocacy 
of the Tariff? 

But we have other witnesses, and among them is 
Mr. Marshall, of Kentucky, with whose testimoi y 
we will pause for the present. 

We make the following extract from Mr. Mar- 
shall's letter published in the National Intelligencer : 

" 1 will appeal from the Press to the People. From 
the leaders to the troops. I will not be cashiered or 
drummed disgracefully out of camp for having first 
indicated the path to victory, (in advocating the ta- 
riff,) while others, who watched the course of the 
battle in prudent silence, or were found actually on 
the other side denouncing me, till unexpectedly the 
tide of war changed, now rush loudly in to seize the 
spoils and wear the laurels. It will be remembered 
(hat I fought up when I first made this proposition, 
(the tariff bill) under a load of obloquy and the 
weight of most unworthy suspicions That my 
course was said to be dictated by my hostility to Mr. 
Clay. That 1 was feeding an ancient family grudge. 
It will be remembered that the known partisans, the 
peculiar personal party of that gentleman, sought by 
every means to defeat the bill. Whether they or 1 



judged most wisely, let the world decide. I do not 
of course ask to be remembered at any of the Whig 
jubilees in connexion with this subject, bat I do en- 
treat that my district may bj allowed to spare me a 
little longer, and may not furnish the halter for my 
execution, at least while the duties remain what they 
are upon hemp. 



MR. CLAY. 

ESSAY No. I.— [Republication.] 
Mr. Clay has been a candidate for the Presidency 
from the moment of his return from Europe, at the 
close of the last war, up to the present time, now a 
a period of six-and-twenty ye irs. Twice or thrice 
he has gone to the polls, and once with the whole 
support of the party to which he belonged. That he 
will continue to be a candidate, till success or death 
extinguishes such a condition, no one acquainted 
with his character and his indomitable ambition can 
doubt. Let us do Mr. Clay jus-ice ; let us commend! 
his virtues, and applaud his ta ents ; let us pEaise 
him for all in him that is praiseworthy ; and thisrthe 
more cheerfully, as we do not intend to extenuate 
his political faults, and the fatal, fatal consequences 
of his political conduct in 1841. Without much lite- 
rature, or any great extent of general knowledge, he 
has a strong understanding, now a good deal culti- 
vated by habits of business. A good person, a. fine 
voice, an attractive and commanding manner, fit- 
him eminently for public debate ; and he loves, to a 
lamentable excess, what he excells in. His irritable 
temper brooks no contradiction, and by far fonder of 
invective and retort, than of the influences of soft 
persuasion, neither friend nor foe, who opposes hins 
in debate, can expect quarter. Indeed on these= oc- 
casions he treats his friends worse than his foes; for 
while he looks upon the latter as enemies, in a law- 
ful war, he regards the former as rebellious subjects 
who deserve no mercy. To precise logic, or cool 
reasoning, he has little pretence ; but for the illustra- 
tion and enforcement of general principles, his re- 
sources are respectable, and the skill with which he 
uses them evinces both adroitness and practice. He 
has other important qualities of a distinquished leader 
iu popular assemblies. He is bold, fearless, ready, 
ardent, and when discomfitted and overthrown, as he 
often is, even in a good cause, by his imprudence 
and excess, he can retire, beating such a note of re- 
treat nevertheless, as still seems to have an air of tri- 
umph in it. Excessively fond of admiration, as a 
public orator, and consequently studying effect more 
than a wise man should, he cannot, and never could 
forego a joke, or a sarcasm, which should bring ap- 
plause from the gallery, though, at the same time, it 
should plant a dagger.or create a vulnus iinmedicabile y 
in another's heart. The natural result of this temper 



has been fully shown. While no man, in his speeches, 
gains more general applause, no man inflicts so much 
private pain, or creates so deep-seated a dislike in the 
bosom of his adversaries. 

The history of Mr. Clay's opinions, since 1806, 
and of his steady efforts — steady in their objects, 
though far from steady in their means — must hereaf- 
ter form topics of discussion. The position in which 
he has now chosen to place himself, and the hostil- 
ities which he has commenced, render this absolutely 
necessary, for the purposes of lawful defence. At 
present, we confine ourselves to the occurrences in 
'39, '40. 

Mr. Clay was a candidate for the nomination of 
President, at the Har r Uburg Convention, in Decem- 
ber, 1839. His sanguine and ardent temperament 
would not suffer him lo indulge in the least apprehen- 
sion of defeat. No friend, nor all his friends together, 
could persuade him that Gen. Harrison or Gen. Scott 
would be more 1 kely than himself to succeed against 
Mr. Van Buren. He would not believe it — did not 
believe it — does not believe it now. At this moment, 
he is perfectly convinced, that if he had been nomi- 
nated, he would have been elected ; and the defeat of 
his nomination he imputes to treachery and fraud. — 
There are those who preferred another candidate,* 
and whom, for that reason alone, he chooses to con- 
sider and denounce as enemies and traitors, whom he 
has since pursued, and will pursue, till they go to 
their graves, or he goes to his, with implacable re- 
sentment. He has an iron memory for injures; and 
he is like other n.en who hate without cause. A sort 
of consciousness that they themselves are wrong, and 
that they have no cause to hate, only leads them to 
hate the more. A cmscience, accusing itself of un- 
just resentments, often seeks to quiet its own pangs, 
by increased exasperation. 

As to Mr. Clay's apparently graceful withdrawal 
from the controversy, for the sake of harmony, and 
the letter produced ar.d read on the occasion, there 
was nothing in all this but show. Mr. Clay's friends 
never gave up their persistence, their pertinacity, 
their adherence (to use the strongest Parliamentary 
phrase) to Mr. Clay's nomination, till he was beaten, 
thoroughly beaten, irrecoverably beaten, in the Con- 
vention. And then, an attempt was made, adroit 
enough, but such as deceived nobody, to turn his 
defeat into a withdrawal. 

But from that disappointment Mr. Clay's wounded 
spirit has never recovered. He soon aftei wards, in- 
deed, endeavored to make the best of it ; to support 
General Harrison's election, and to place himself in 
the line of succession next to the General, who had 
declared his intention of serving one teim only. 

* Daniel Webster, we suppose. 



MR. CLAY. 

ESSAY No. II.— [Republication.] 
The idea of confining the Presidential service of 
an individual to a single term of four years, was ear- 
ly adopted by General Harrison and some of his 
friends, and formed a prominent and popular topic 
during the last election. 

Whether such a practical innovation upon the ac- 
tual working of the Constitution would be wise ; 
whether it would not be likely to create more evils 
than it would cure; whether it would not dange- 
rously enfeeble the Executive for the time being; 
whether it would not multiply candidates for the 
Presidency, geometrically, as chances should be in- 
creased, arithmetically; whether, in short, the suc- 
cess of such an opinion would not tend to keep the 
country always unsettled and uncertain, in its admin- 
istration of affairs, are questions too great and impor- 
tant to be now discussed. Mr. Clay did not enter, 
early, into this notion. He did come into it, how- 
ever, and made it a part of his Whig platform, at the 
Hanover dinner. Mr. Clay, by the way, is always 
laying down platforms; and in '41 and '42 his politi- 
cal carpentry seemed to content itself with platforms, 
without any attempt lo raise a superstructure. He 
seemed to think that a good plan, a large and com- 
prehensive theory, was not only something, but every 
thing. What measure did he attempt to accomplish, 
by his majority in the last Congress, for the relief of 
the country? not one, not one. He kept himself 
within the generalities, plausibilities, small econo- 
mies, and other popular topics of praciical discussion 
and declamation. As to measures, he essayed no- 
thing. As to acts he did nothing. Such things were 
not within the scope of his policy ; which policy was, 
clearly and evidently, that the country was not lobe 
relieved for three years afterwards. But, returning to 
the subject of the " one term principle" — it 
is certainly true, that although not its early 
advocate, Mr. Clay did become greatly at- 
tached to it, after the result of the Harrisburg 
Convention. He then became satisfied, from his long 
experience, that the one term principle was essential 
to the salvation of the Republic. He wondered how 
such an auspicious change in the practice of the Go- 
vernment had not struck his clear and comprehensive 
mind in the times of Mr. Adams. He could not ac- 
count for the obscuration of his sagacity, at that day. 
It is true, that he is older now than in the days of 
Mr. Adams. It is tiue, he may not feel that he has 
strength enough remaining to gratify his patriot- 
ism by laboring lor his country for more than four 
years, beginning at the point, which even now, looms 
amidst the mists of future time, till it seems already 
to be just at hand, the first of March, 1845. It is 



true, that when that glorious day shall arrive he will 
be somewhat advanced in life, and none the younger 
for that curious quasi statement of his own age, 
which he put forth in his last speech in the Senate. 
He went to Kentucky forty-seven years ago, it seems, 
not exactly " an orphan not come to his majority," 
but " as an orphan not come to his majority." Re- 
ally, Mr. Clay's years have been so fortunate and 
happy, that it would appear no more than common 
gratitude to Providence to acknowledge the whole of 
them. 

But we stray from our intended path. General 
Harrison's death raised a new question, under the one 
term principle. He died one month after his inaugu- 
ration, and was succeeded by Mr. Tyler. Now arose 
the inquiry " Did Mr. Tyler come within the one hrm 
principle ?" He had almost one whole term to serve, 
but not quite. If General Harrison had lived three 
years, or two years, or even one year, the matter 
might have been clear. The remainder, in that case, 
could hardly be regarded as a term. But, as if the 
fates designed to perplex Mr. Clay, and keep him on 
the torture of uncertainty and suspense, Gen. Harri- 
son's early death left Mr. Tyler three years and eleven 
months — three whole years and eleven whole months ! 
Why, in all conscience, should not that go for a term ? 
It lacks but a month. Mr. Clay, who is fond of com- 
promises, would gladly compromise for three years 
and eleven months. But then, again, does not the 
one term principle require, the honor of a popular 
election to the Presidency ? Is it satisfied, by a mere 
succession from the Vice Presidency, whether for a 
shorter or a longer time? These were knotty points; 
and surely the meditations of Ashland were never 
more perplexed than with the uncertainties which 
hung about these " three years and eleven months!" 
This is what we call, at our chancery courts, by pos — 
but is it one term ? 

In this state of things Mr. Clay came to Washing- 
ton, in May of 1841 ; and he had not been here ten 
days, before seeds were sown, the bitter fruits of 
which the country has since tasted. Mr. Clay could 
get no satisfaction upon the subject of the one term prhtr 
c iple — s till less could he see any certainty that this 
Administration would be conducted with a leading 
view to his future elevation. This is the true solution 
of the conduct adopted by him at the extra session, 
and steadily pursued to the present moment. He 
would not have quarrelled with the President about 
a Bank, if all had been well in regard to the pros 
pects of the succession. No, not for an instant. If 
he had been assured that the present incumbent 
would not have been in his way in 1844, and that, in 
the mean time, the path would become smoothed for 
his ascent to the Presidency, is there any man who 
supposes he would have made it a great point of dif- 



ference with the President, that in the plan of a 
Bank the States should have a voice about branches? 
No man can believe any sue thing' Mr. Clay, in 
such a juncture, would have had immediate recourse 
to his sovereign remedy of compromise ; he would 
have enlarged on the respect due to constitutional 
scruples ; would have said that he had once entertain- 
ed such scruples himself, which made him more chari- 
table and indulgent to others who still entertained 
them ; would have preached conciliation, and de- 
precated disunion ; would have wept (for he can 
weep) at the very idea of a severance between the 
President and the Whigs of Congress, for any such 
cause as that ; and by a vigorous lead, and those 
efforts at rallying, of which he is so capable, would 
have carried a constitutional bill triumphantly 
through both houses of Congress. We state this as 
our clear opinion, our most sincere belief, and we 
put it to the conscience of every candid man, if it be 
not his conviction also. 

Is there a man who was in either House of Con- 
gress, who doubts that Mr. Clay would have support- 
ed some constitutional currency bill, carried it 
through, and thus given the Administration grounds 
to hope for success, if he had regarded the success of 
this Administration as favorable to his ounpersonal ob~ 
jects ? No, not one. No man doubts it ; and Mr. 
Clay himself doubts it least of all. Mr. Clay's con- 
duct, then, from the very first, had its policy, its 
hopes, and objects, all centered in opposition to Mr. 
Tyler's Administration, and in the chance of defeat- 
ing its success. It is incredible, to what excess ex- 
pectations were carried, in respect to this. It is a 
truth, that toward the end of the extra session, Mr. 
Clay and his friends expected nothing less than to 
drive Mr. Tyler to an immediate resignation, and 
that there would be, forthwith, a new election of 
President. All this was to have been brought about 
bv the resignation of the Cabinet, and by the Mani- 
festo of the Capitol Square, and other places, by 
which it was thought the People could be made as 
much exasperated as certain of the members of Con- 
gress had become. How foolish, how insane, were 
such ideas ! Who can look back upon September, 
1841, without thinking that some spell, some unac- 
countable delusion, some contagious infatuation, had 
seized upon minds usually sane, sensible, and pa- 
triotic? rr '' . 

MR. CLAY. 

ESSAY NO. III.— Republication. 
In his Alexandria letter, Mr. Clay called the Pre- 
sident a "weak, vacillating, faithless Chief Magis- 
trate !" This was the language of Henry Clay, ap- 
plied to John Tyler ! Miserable, miserable beyond 
expression, and impotent as miserable, and conlemp- 



10 



tible as impotent, was such ribaldry. In what was 
Mr. Tyler vacillating 1 He and Mr- Clay agreed, 
years ago, that a Bank of the United States was un- 
constitutional. They took tho doctrine from the 
school in which they were both bred. Mr. Clay has 
altered his opinion ; Mr. Tyler has not altered his ; 
and yet Mr. Clay lays the charge of vacillation upon 
Mr. Tyler ! Did Mr. Clay suppose that such mon- 
strosities, such inventions of absurdity would be 
swallowed by the People 1 Did he suppose that all 
men had lost their senses, as well as himself 1 

Mr. Clay pronounced Mr. Tyler an "unfaithful 
Magistrate." Unfaithful to whom 1 Unfaithful to 
what ? Was he unfaithful to himself, to all his own 
opinions, and the convictions of his whole life 1 Was 
he unfaithful to his country 1 Has he shrunk at a 
perilous moment, from any duty, however responsi- 
ble, from any effort, however arduous, to restore the 
prosperity, maintain the honor, and promote the best 
interests of the country 1 No, no. It was because 
he was faithful to the country, because he would not 
postpone its intertsls to Mr. Clay's advancement, be- 
cause he would not be a tool in Mr. Clay's hands, 
because he cou!d not be terrified, by the storm which 
was raised over his head, that he became an object of 
so much hatred. Mr. Clay, anxious to be r. garded 
as a great Whig martyr, told the good People of 
Alexandria, that no one had been honored with a 
larger share of Executive enmity than himself. This 
was all for effect. It was not true that he had been 
honored with any enmity, though it was very probable 
that he was honored by a good degree of scorn and 
contempt. 

Let Mr. Clay go on ; let him fill every newspaper 
in the country with his grrss denunciations against 
the President ; let him continue to set the example of 
one public man denouncing another as a changeling 
and a traitor — that other being his countryman, and 
once his friend — let him ring the changes of such gress 
imputations at every dinner table at which he may sit 
down for two years ; let him do his best, or his worst, 
and what will the end be 1 He may complete the 
ruin of the Whi*» party, if that work be not already 
finished by him ; he nay, and he certainly will, if he 
can, embarrass the Administration, diminish its means 
of usefulness, at least for a time, and flatter himself 
with deceitful hopes of the future. But all this will 
be vain. That promised future will never come. No, 
never. 

Mr. Clay has now entirely thrown off his disguise, 
drawn his sword, set up his standard, sounded his 
trumpet, and taken the field in open war, for a sixth 
and last campaign. " Victory or death !" It may be 
well for the American People, before they rally un 
der his command, to make themselves sure of the 
precise objects they expect or desire to gain by the 
success of such a leader. Indeed, we would like to 



know what "crowning glory" the great "Harry" 
himself anticipates as the final reward of his last con- 
test. Is it merely the Presidency ? That one fond 
object of twenty-five years of long deferred hope, 
which for this quarter of a century he has regarded 
with the same admiration as the Persian looks up to 
the sun, and which, as it is about sinking from his 
sight forever, gleams yet brighter, and surrounds it- 
self with yet more gorgeous and golden hues? Ay, 
the Presidency, the Presidency. And now, suppose 
it were attainable by Mr. Clay — does he think it 
would reward him for all the strife and pain and la- 
bor of so many years ? Is he to find it, what no one 
else has found it, a balm for every sorrow and a sure 
recompense for every toil ? Is it to give him perma- 
nent and undisputed power 1 Is it to silence exaspe- 
rated foes, and surround him with disinterested 
friends ? Will it protect him from assaults without, 
or the gnawings of more deadly fees within? Will 
it gild his name with unsuspected purity, or elevate 
him above the reach of scorn? 

It is no less strange than melancholy to see an in- 
dividual now so far advanced towards his journey's 
end still struggling, with more than the ardor of his 
youth, for a bauble by the way side, when he should 
be looking toward another goal and striving for a 
more lasting reward. Suppose him President, (by 
means of a coalition with the Globe,) and suppose 
that others, the friends of his youth and friends for 
thirty years, should fall upon him, strike their fangs 
into him, denounce him as false and treacherous — 
treat him, in short, as he treats the present incum- 
bent, and with justice, of which there is none in the 
attacks on Mr. Tyler — would he find himself repo- 
sing on a bed of roses? 

But if even to Mr. Clay his success in the coming 
struggle would bring so little and real and substantial 
good, how much less would enure to his country? 

We may form some idea of the blessings of an Ad- 
ministration of his, from the conduct of the last 
Congress, which was substantially his, and governed 
in most instances by his counsels. 

Mr. Clay came to the extra session of the 27th 
Congress with Whig majorities in both Houses of 
Congress. He himself was put at the head of the 
most important committee of the Senate, and was 
known to have been consulted in the formation of 
every other committee. His personal and political 
friend was made Speaker of the House, and of course 
his voice was decisive in the arrangement of all the 
House Committees. 

The Congress may be said to have been purely his, 
and indeed a great part of the Cabinet too. Thus 
armed with more than regal power, what did Mr. 
Clay accomplish for his country ? What did he pro- 
duce as the result of his power and his skill ? Dust 
and ashes! dust and ashes upon every interest and 
every occupation in the land ! 



11 



MR. CLAY. 

ESSAY No. IV.— [Republication.] 

We spoke, yesterday, of the benefits likely to enure 
to himself and the country from Mr. Clay's election 
to the Presidency, should such a thing occur. We 
have now a word or two to say about the probabilities 
■of such an event. 

We must premise, by once more adverting to the 
fact that Mr. C. has now been a regular candidate 
for five elections, and defeated, either by the People, 
or in convention, in every one. Under whatever fa- 
vorable auspices the Whig party began the canvass, 
with whatever advantage of position, whatever popu- 
lar feeling and excitement in its favor, whatever ap- 
parently well founded topics of complaint against its 
opponents, the adoption of Mr. Clay, as a candidate, 
has proved invaiiably fatal to their c-.iuse. 

The inscription of his name in their standard has 
been tie signal for general disrersion, and the sure 
harbinger of a total overthrow. Like the Carmach 
Deil to the Mclvors, Mr. Clay's appearance to the 
Whigs has been the certain piesage of impending 
destruction. A conviction of this Bo-cn-Upas-like 
property of his, was the potentcauseof Lis relinquish- 
ment by the Harrisburg Convention. All felt that 
to sustain him was to court defeat. 

In 1837, '38, and '39, a curious scene was passing 
in this country. Mr. Clay's friends were (as now) 
moving heaven and earth to make him the Whig 
candidate for the Presidency : but they were not the 
only persons desirous of bringing about that state of 
things. In a different way, and under the operation 
of far different motives, the friends of the late Ad- 
ministration incessantly labored to produce the same 
result. Mr. Van Buren spared no means which he 
could employ, and he is a man who can work by 
many indirections, to keep Gen. Harrison out of the 
field, and to reduce the controversy to a contest be- 
tween himself and Mr. Clay. The late Mr. Grundy, 
a gentleman of great shrewdness, and Mr. Silas 
Wright, a man of shrewdness also, and whose self- 
possession has enabled him, in the Senate, more than 
once, to foil the great Whig leader of the last Con- 
gress, are known to have desired nothing, and to 
have sought nothing more than that Mr. Clay should 
be the Whig candidate; nor did ever any thing in- 
spire gentlemen of their politics with such thorough 
fear and dread, as the announcement from Harris- 
burg that Mr. Clay was not the candidate, and that 
General Harrison was. From that moment, and 
never before, alarm spread itself through the Van 
Buren camp. 

And so, at the present day, the belief that Mr. 
Clay is to be the Whig candidate, is inexpressibly 
gratifying to some of Mr. Van Buren's friends. 
In short, the sober truth, oi which Mr. Clay's 



friends can never be convinced, and of which he is 
less likely even than they to be persuaded, is, that 
with no inconsiderable striking reputation, and al- 
ways put forward by his zeaJous friends, he has yet no 
hold upon the confidence of the great mass of the com- 
munity. More than twenty years have proved this. 
The People of the United States, not undervaluing his 
talents and abilities for certain objects, yet do not see 
in him that mild, moderate guardian and parentai 
character in which they love to contemplate the Chief 
Magistrate. Mr, Clay is dogmatical, opinionated. — 
Between him and his friends, even the most attached, 
there is no intercourse of independent mind with in- 
dependent mind ; there is no mutuality of respect and 
deference ; nothing like confidence upon equal terms. 
Years have not softened these repelling qualities, and 
when his supporters approach him, he expects and 
will admit nothing but fealty and homage. All this is 
not said loosely and inconsiderately. There is not one 
of his friends who will not admit its truth. With 
these characteristic?, however he may draw admira- 
tion, he cannot inspire love and confidence. The 
feeling is geneial, and it is true, that he has no sym- 
pathy with the great body of his countrymen, but 
that he builds his hopes of success upon brilliant 
achievements, on political manoeuvres, on compro- 
mises, of which he has as many, and is generally as 
successful in them as Sir Hugh Evans in the Merry 
Wives of Windsor, and on the unscrupulous devo- 
tion of his upholders and partisans. 

Even, then, if Mr. Clay were to be supported now 
once again for the sixth time, by the Whig party, 
there would be, there could be no hope of his ultimate 
success, unless, indeed, within the last year or two 
he has himself wholly changed for the better, or new 
lights have broken in upon the People. Of the fate 
of the Whigs', should they put Mr. Clay's name for- 
ward, let the recent events in twenty of the twenty- 
six States tell. The very suspicion that he is to be 
the candidate, joined to the knowledge of his move- 
ments in the last Congress, and his conduct during 
his retirement, has been sufficient to change a trium- 
phant Harrison majority, in twenty States, into a 
well-beaten Clay minority. In 1844 the result will 
be the same. 

To raise Mr. Clay is impossible. To sink with 
him, if the attempt be made, inevitable. 



ESSAY NO. V— [Republication.] 

MR. CLAY AND THE PRESIDENCY. 
From a very early period of his political career, 
Mr. Clay seems to have fixed his eye on the Presi- 
dential chair as the goal which he desired, and ex- 
pected ultimately to attain. Some men have been 
found sufficiently unpretending and patriotic as to 



12 



rest satisfied with the good which their talents and 
energies could effect in the situation to which they 
may have been elevated by the spontaneous choice of 
the People, without raising their aspirations any 
higher— others have thought not of the Presidency 
until the gradual progression of promotion and wide- 
ly disseminated popularity have almost placed it 
within their grasp, when the expectation of being 
elevated to the highest office in the gift of the People 
has been the suggestion of circumstances, not the 
creation of their selfish ambition. Not so Mr. Clay. 
When yet the years he numbered were barely suffi- 
cient to qualify him for a seat in the Senate of the 
United States, and he could, almost without suspi- 
cion, pretend to the innocence of a novice in politi- 
cal intrigue, he extended his vision through the long 
vista of party turmoil and revolution before him, and 
intently scanned the whole scene, that he might dis- 
cover in turn all the tortuosities and difficulties of 
the path which led to the coveted prize beyond— 
To attain it, every faculty, every energy has been 
nerved ; every plan and every scheme has been em- 
ployed, till the age of 70 has overtaken him— in vain. 
He has figured among statesmen in originating and 
supporting measures deeply affecting the interests 
of the country, whether for weal or for wo— it 
was with expectation of the Presidency. He has 
figured among partisans and intrigued among po- 
liticians—it was with expectation of the Presi 
dency. He has poured his fluent strains of delibera- 
tive eloquence in the Capitol— it was with expec- 
tation of the Presidency. He speechified at dinners 
and on the stump— it was with expectation of the 
Presidency. He has promulgated opinions and con ■ 
demned them— he has joined patties and forsaken 
them— he has supported friends and abandoned them 
—it was all with expectation of the Presidency. 
Amid every change of political opinion in himself— 
amid every revolution of party— whether he was Re- 
presentative, Senator, Commissioner in a foreign 
country, or quitted his popular position to become 
Secretary of State, he never lost sight of the one 
great object— the Presidency. As soon as he thought 
his arrangements made, his forces prepared, and the 
plan of campaign complete, he entered the field, and 
he was defeated. Again defeated in open warfare, 
he experienced, in 1839, the additional degradation 
and disappointment of being rejected by his own 
friends. Vexed and harassed by reiteration of de- 
feat, where stands he now? Upheld by his own des- 
peration and the recklessness of a few desperate 
friends, he affects the modesty of retirement, while 
he promises indirectly a renewal of the contest. 
Directly, he promises no such thing ; but in the mor- 
bid peevishness of frustrated ambition, (we will not 
quote an old and familiar adage,) he assails person- 



ally, as well as politically, one whose position he en- 
vies, because he has, by long reveries on his own as- 
pirations, persuaded himself that he should be there 
himself. But where is he now ? At every struggle 
he is sinking farther and farther from the object he 
wishes to grasp. Are his hopes of the Presidency 
brighter? His most sanguine fiiends cannot confi 
dently make the assertion. He has met the punish- 
ment which usually attends a constant tissue of in- 
trigue. The calculations of his cunning have de- 
ceived him, and he is farther [from the Presidency 
than ever. 

* * * % # 

Yes, farther than ever. When he betrayed the 
President, and declared himself in favor of a Na- 
tional Bank, contrary to the professions of the party 
in 1840, and so far succeeded in his perfidy as to ob- 
tain the leadership of the Whig party after the ve- 
toes— then, or up to that period, the Whig party held 
nineteen of the States by decided majorities. Under 
Mr. Clay's lead, and with his name as the candidate 
for 1844, in less than two years, ihe Whigs have lost 
possession of til the States but five or six. This is 
incontrovertible, and will not be denied by any sane 
Clay man. 

THE DYING FOX. 



ESSAY NO. VI. — [Repuplicaton from the Madi- 
sonian April 8, 1842.] 

All the world agrees, from iEsop down, that fable 
is an admirable vehicle for conveying sentiment and 
truth. We will not dispute the matter at large with 
Rosseau, whether it be not ridiculous to make birds 
and beasts talk ; but our own opinion is, that as re- 
ported by JEsop, La Fontaine, and Gay, they do often 
talk very admirably ; far better, we think, (speaking 
with all possible deference and reverence,) than more 
modern reporters are able, at all times, to make in- 
tellectual bipeds. But much of this, doubtless, de- 
pends on the reporter. 

Among Mr. Clay's posthumous, or at least, mor- 
tuary resolutions, is one on the subject of the mileage 
of members of Congress, which is expressed in the 
following grave, and solemn and patriotic language : 

Resolved, thereftre, That Congress is called upon to 
retrench its expenses — by abridging the duration of 
the long sessions ; by regulating and more clearly de- 
fining the mileage of the members ; and by diminish- 
ing its contingent expenses, and especially those in- 
cuned for stationary, for printing, for the employ- 
ment of cleiks for committees, and for folding print- 
ed matter to be transmitted through the maib, &c, 
&c, &c. 

In reading this resolution, we were [reminded of a 
certain account for mileage, rendered by a member of 
the House of Representatives some eighteen or twen- 
ty years ago, and allowed and paid by Mr. Clay, at 
hat time Speaker of the House; and this recollect- 



13 



tion was accompanied by a re7*ival, in our memory, 
of the table of the Dying Fox. If we remember, the 
substance of the fable is as follows : 
A Fox, in life's extreme decay, 
Weak, sick, and faint, expiring lay ; 
All appetite had left his maw, 
And age disarmed his mumbling jaw. 
His numerous race around him stand, 
To learn their dying sire's command ; 
He raised his head with whining moan, 
And thus was heard the feeble tone : 

"Ah! son, from evil ways depart, 
Jtfy crimes I e heavy on my heart. 
See, see, the murdered geese appear! 
Why are those bleeding turkeys here ? 
Why all around this cackling train, 
Who haunt my cars for chicken slain "? 
Oh gluttons ! says the drooping sire, 
Restrain inordinate desire; 
So live, in credit, and esteem, 
And the good name you lost, redeem. 

"The counsel's good, a fox replies, 
Could we peif >rm what you advise; 
But, if a hen roosl be decreased, 
We shall be thought to share the feast: 
The change will never be believed ; 
A lost good name is ne'er retrieved. 

Nay, then, replies the feeble Fox — 
But hark ! I hear a hen, that clucks — 
Go ! but be moderate in your food ; 
A chicken, too, mijht do me good. 
So much for the Fable. And now we present an 
account, from official documents, of the mileage al- 
lowed to Jno. Scott, member of Congress from Mis 
souri. Our readers will note the date. Mr. Scott, as 
is well known, in February, 1825, gave the vote of 
Missouri for Mr. Adams, and Mr. Adams being 
elected, Mr. Clay became Secretary of State. We 
impute dj motives, but here aie the facts. 

Let it be remembered that all payments are made 
on the Speaker's warrant : 
2d. Sess.,17Cong. 

P. P. Barbour, Speaker, 1823. 
.John Scott, of Missouri, 

Mileage, from St. Genevieve, 
1100 Miles at 80 cents, $880 
92 days attendance 736 §1616 

1st. Sess., 18th Con. 

H. CLAY, Speaker, 1824. 
John Scott, of Missouri. 

Mileage from St. Genevieve, 

1100 Miles at 80 cents, $880 
179 days in attendance 1432 $2312 

Add 500 miles at 80 cents 400 

500 miles short twice in travel- 
ling in coming here by water, 
1000 miles at 40 c. 400 

500 m les short seven times in 
returning by water — 3500 1400 



$4512 



It will besesn by this, that Mr. S;ott was not only 



then for the first time allowed for travel by the river 
route, but that Mr. Clay kindly corrected the errors of 
his predecessors and advanced the small item of 
|3r TWENTY-TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS 
FOR EXTRAS IN ARREAR ! 

In connection with this document, we see the great 
propriety, and congruity, and consistency of Mr. 
Clay's resolution. How charmingly it reads, as at 
admonition from the dying to the living? 
"Ah ! sons, from wicked ways depart, 
My crimes lie heavy on my heart." 

And yet, the moribund is not entirely free from all 
regard of the vain enjoyments of this transitory life. 
He has some smack yet, some relish for the perisha- 
able goods of this mortal state. His heart fails him 
when he essays to advise absolute abstinence from 
the pleasures of power and place. He yields to the 
importunity of others, and consents to one more effort 
for the spoils. This is mainly to gratify the honest 
desires of others ; yet why should self be always for. 
gotten 1 

"O hark ! I hear a hen that clucks ! 
Go, but be moderate in your food ! 
Jl chicken, too, might do me good !" 

From the Indiana State Sentinel. 
LETTER FROM GENERAL JACKSON. 
The following letter from Gen. Jackson was re- 
ceived a few days since by a citizen of this county. 
At the n quest of several citizens, to whom its con- 
tents were communicated, we take great pleasure in 
giving it to the public. 

Hermitage, June 14, 1844. 

Sir: — I am in receipt of your letter of the 11th in- 
stant, and though in bad health myself, cannot forego 
the pleasure of saying a lew words in reply to it. 

You lequest my opinion of the nominations recent- 
ly made at Baltimore by the Democratic party. I am 
entirely satisfied with them, and have no doubt, if 
the gentlemen nominated are elected, that the people 
will find their administration true to the old Repub- 
lican landmarks, and every way worthy of their sup- 
port. 

Mr. Polk was raised in my neighborhood, and went 
into public life as a Jefiersuman Democr.it. To the 
great principle of that illustrious reformer of our sys- 
tem of Government he has been ever faithful; and 
has proved himself on many trying occasions, the 
advocate of popular rights, and the sagacious friend 
of the measures which were necessary to defeat the 
i.iachinations of the Federal party. His moral char- 
actei is pure — his capacity for business great — and to 
extraordinary powers of labor, both mental and phy- 
sical, he unites that tact and judgment which are re- 
quisite to the successful direction of such an office as 
ttiat of Cnief Magistrate of a free people. 

With Mr. Dallas 1 am not so intimately acquaint- 
ed, but from what I know of him when he represent- 
ed Pennsylvania in the Senate of the United States, 
and wa- charged with high public trusts in var.ous 
Hher important stations at home anu abroad, it can- 
ojt b.- doubted thai he equally desetves the confi- 
dence and admiration of me people. The favoisihat 
uve been conferred up.m hnn by the Keystone 
.5. ate, whose citizens aie distinguished for love of or- 



13 



tion was accompanied by a re ?ival, in our memory, 
of the fable of the Dying Fox. If we remember, the 
substance of the fable is as follows : 

A Fox, in life's extreme decay, 

Weak, sick, and faint, expiring lay ; 

All apDetite had left his maw, 

And age disarmed his mumbling jaw. 

His numerous race around him stand, 

To learn their dying sire's command ; 

He raised his head with whining moan, 

And thus was heard the feeble tone : 

"Ah! son, from evil ways depart, 
Jtfy crimes I e heavy on my heart. 
See, see, the murdered geese appear! 
Why are those bleeding turkeys here ? 
Why all around this cackling train, 
Who haunt my cars for chicken slain 1 
Oh gluttons ! says the drooping sire, 
Restrain inordinate desire ; 
So live, in credit, and esteem, 
And the good name you lost, redeem. 

<l The counsel's good, a fox replies, 
Could we per firm what you advise; 
But, if a hen roost be decreased, 
We shall be thought to share the feast: 
The change will never be believed ; 
A lost good name is ne'er retrieved. 

Nay, then, replies the feeble Fox — 

But hark ! 1 hear a hen, that clucks — 

Go! but be moderate in your food ; 

A chicken, too, misfit do me good. 
So much for the Fable. And now we present an 
account, from official documents, of the mileage al- 
lowed to Jno. Scott, member of Congress from Mis 
souri. Our readers will note the date. Mr. Scoit, as 
is well known, in February, 1825, gave the vote of 
Missouri for Mr. Adams, and Mr. Adams being 
elected, Mr. Clay became Secretary of State. We 
impute n > motives, but here aie the facts. 

Let it be remembered that all jayments are made 
on the Speaker's warrant : 

2d. Seas., 17 Cong. 

P. P. Barbour, Speaker, 1823. 
John Scott, of Missouri, 

Mileage, from St. Genevieve, 
1100 Miles at 80 cents, $880 
92 days attendance 730 #1616 

1st. Sees., 18th Con. 

H. CLAY, Speaker, 1824. 
John Scott, of Missouri. 

Mileage from St. Genevieve, 

1100 iviiles at 80 cents, $890 
179 days in attendance 1432 $2312 

Add 500 miles at HO cents 400 

500 noli s short twice in travel- 
ling .n eoniing here by water, 
1000 miles at 40 & 400 

500 m lea sh irt seven times in 
returning by water — 3500 l loo 



84512 



then for the first time allowed for travel by the river 
route, but that Mr. Clay kindly corrected the errors of 
his predecessors and advanced the small item of 
S3> TWENTY-TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS 
FOR EXTRAS IN ARREAR! 

In connection with this document, we see the great 
propriety, and congruity, and consistency of Mr. 
Clay's resolution. How charmingly it reads, as at 
admonition from the dying to the living? 

"Ah ! sons, from wicked ways depart, 

My crimes lie heavy on my heart." 
And yet, the moribund is not entirely free from all 
regard of the vain enjoyments of this transitory life. 
He has some smack yet, some relish for the perisha- 
able goods of this mortal state. His heart fails him, 
when he essays to advise absolute abstinence from 
the pleasures of power and place. He yields to the 
importunity of others, and consents to one more effort 
for the spoils. This is mainly to gratify the honest 
desires of others ; yet why should self be always for- 
gotten 1 

"O hark ! I hear a hen that clucks ! 

Go, but be moderate in your food ! 

Ji chicken, too, might do me good !" 

From the Indiana State Sentinel. 
LETTER FROM GENERAL JACKSON. 
The following letter from Gen. Jackson was re- 
ceived a few days since by a citizen of this county. 
At the ri quest of several citizens, to whom its con- 
tents were communicated, we take great pleasure in 
giving it to the public. 

Hermitage, June 14, 1844. 
Sir: — I am in receipt ot your letter of the 11th in- 
stant, and though in bad health myself, cannot forego 
the pleasure of saying a lew words in reply to it. 

You lequest my opinion of the nominations recent- 
ly made at Baltimore by the Democratic party. I am 
entirely satisfied with them, and have no doubt, if 
the gentlemen nominated are elected, that the people 
will lind their administration true to the old Repub- 
lican landmarks, and every way worthy of their sup- 
port. 

Mr. Polk was raised in my neighborhood, and went 
into public life as a Jefiersoniun Democrat. To the 
great principle of thai illustrious reformer of our sys- 
tem of Government hfe baa been ever faithful; and 
has proved himself on many trying occasions, the 
advocate of popular rights, and the sagacious friend 
of the measure* which were necessary to defeat the 
machination* of the Federal party. His moral char- 
actei is pure — Ins capaoity for business ^reat — and to 
extraordinary power* of labor, both mental and phy- 
sical, he unites that tact and judgment which are re- 
quisite to thesucceeslul direction of such an office as 
tbai of Chief Magistrate of a free people. 

With Mr. Dallas 1 am not so intimately acquaint- 
ed, but from wiiat 1 know of bun w hen he represent- 
,i Pennsylvania in the Senate of the United States, 
iihl wa< ciiaiged with high pablio trusts in various 

ilDe portent Btationi at home a no abioad, it can- 

uot be doubled thai he equally deseivea the confi- 

ii ii e and admiration ol toe people, The favois that 

been conferred up m him by the Keystone 



It will base™ by this, thai Mr. S.-otl was not only d ate, whose citaens aie dutinguisbed lor love ut or- 



making also discriminations in the imposition of the 
duties which it proposed. That bill did not pass, but 
was superseded by the bill commonly called the Com- 
promise bill, for which I voted. 

In my judgment, it is the duty of the Government 
to extend, as far as it may be practicable to do, by its 
revenue laws and all other means within its power, 
fair and just protection to all the great interests of 
the whole Union, embracing agriculture, manufac- 



tures, the mechanic arts, commerce and navigation. 
I heartily approve the resolutions on this subject 
passed by the Democratic National Convention, late- 
ly assembled at Baltimore. 

I am, with great respect, dear sir, 

Your obedient servant, 
JAMES K. POLK, 
John K. Kane, Esq., Philadelphia. 






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